In this vote, the House passed The Energy Policy Act of 2005, a comprehensive bill dealing with research and development of numerous sources of energy. Making the Progressive argument, Eliot Engel (D-NY) condemned the bill as favoring "special interests over consumers." Progressives specifically criticized a number of the bill's provisions, including those that: protected manufacturers of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MBTE), a gasoline additive, from product liability lawsuits; authorized the spending of significant funds on behalf of the nuclear power industry; allowed for the first time drilling for oil in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR); repealed the Public Utilities Holding Company Act (PUHCA), which they alleged would allow large companies to drive smaller utility companies out of business; and included "a variety of special-interest favors for oil and gas production despite the fact that producers are already reaping profits from record high energy prices" and that these measures would not reduce gas prices. (Martin Meehan (D-MA).) All in all, they maintained that the bill was wrongheaded in that it would not reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and it did not take a sufficiently forward-looking approach to energy production, conservation and consumption. Republicans, however, hailed the legislation. They cited the rising price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. and said that the bill would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and thus improve U.S. energy security, take a major step toward production of environmentally safe, renewable fuels, boost citizen access to more fuel-efficient cars, provide incentives to state and local governments to acquire alternatively-fueled vehicles, and create jobs. (Dennis Hastert (R-IL).) Handing Progressives a defeat, the House passed The Energy Policy Act of 2005 by a vote of 249 to 183, with a 41 Democrats joining Republicans to vote in favor of the bill while 22 Republicans opted to vote against the bill with most Democrats. Thus, the House adopted a comprehensive energy bill that took a number of steps that might or might not successfully reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, but did specifically permit drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and provide a waiver of liability for manufacturers of the gasoline additive MBTE, amongst numerous other provisions.